Since Tuesday afternoon, more than 74,000 customers were impacted by the storm, and as of 5 p.m. service was restored to nearly 20,000. Remaining outages are 16,000 in Dutchess County, 33,000 in Orange County, 2,500 in Putnam County and 2,900 in Ulster County.
Since Tuesday afternoon, more than 74,000 customers were impacted by the storm, and as of 5 p.m. service was restored to nearly 20,000. Remaining outages are 16,000 in Dutchess County, 33,000 in Orange County, 2,500 in Putnam County and 2,900 in Ulster County, according to Central Hudson. Winds of 50 miles per hour and higher were reported in Dutchess, Orange and Putnam counties, with and gusts as high as 78 miles per hour in southern Dutchess County. Hail was reported in Ulster County and approximately 1,000 lighting strikes per hour were recorded during the height of the storm.
The storm has been blamed for three deaths: two in Connecticut, and one in Newburgh, where authorities said an 11-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell on a parked car while she was inside.
Central Hudson said the hardest it areas were in the southern part of its service area, where significant tree damage blocked roads, broke utility poles and brought down power lines. Nineteen distribution circuits and two transmission lines are locked out, and numerous smaller outages are reported. In all, there were nearly 400 individual damage locations.
Residents are urged to stay away from all downed lines. Central Hudson teams are working with municipal and county emergency response personnel to clear roads, restore traffic signals and guard downed lines. Motorists are neing asked to please obey detours so that repairs can be safely made.
Central Hudson crews and damage assessment teams continue to address power outages and survey damage locations. Approximately 185 line workers together with nearly 180 tree personnel are clearing roads and restoring power. Additionally, more than 270 mutual aid line workers are anticipated to arrive throughout the day. Central Hudson anticipates restoration work will last through Thursday and potentially later, with the focus today on clearing roads.
Estimated restoration times for impacted areas are being developed as information from damage assessment and repair crews are reported. Information on when power will be restored will become available later today and tomorrow, and may change as work progresses and new cases of damage are uncovered.
The American Red Cross has established a shelter at the Fishkill Town Hall in Dutchess County, 807 Route 52, Fishkill, and is providing centralized case management for impacted families.
Customers are urged to report their power condition and to stay informed of storm and restoration status in the following ways:
- By text messaging: Customers should enroll in Central Hudson’s Texting Program to use text messaging to report their power condition and to obtain repair status. To enroll, visit www.CentralHudson.com/Alerts or text REG to 236483;
- On the Web: Visit CentralHudson.com/Storms to report outages and obtain restoration updates;
- Via smart phones: A mobile version of the Central Hudson’s website can be accessed by web-enabled cell phones and mobile devices at https://mobile.CenHud.com. Free Central Hudson mobile applications for Android and Apple and are also available by logging onto www.CentralHudson.com/mobileapp;
- Through Social Media:Â Â “Like” Central Hudson on Facebook (Facebook.com/ CentralHudson) and “Follow” on Twitter (www.Twitter.com/CentralHudson); and
- By Phone: Call the Central Hudson PowerLine at (845) 452-2700 or 1-800-527-2714, and use the automated system or speak to a representative to report or monitor your power condition.
Fallen trees downed lines and blocked roadways in Fishkill (below) and Newburgh (bottom):
Updated at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 16.Â
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